Die Melusine - Chapter 41
“Your Highness, you must go to sleep now.”
The boy’s hair was jet black like the night sea of Triton, and his golden eyes resembled the light of dawn breaking through the darkness. He was sanding a short wooden sword he had painstakingly crafted over several months.
It was late at night, with the full moon high in the sky. Concerned that the duke hadn’t gone to bed yet, the nanny pleaded for help, prompting the butler to come down himself.
“But my little sibling was just born.”
The five-year-old boy, tall for his age, continued sharpening the wooden sword, unaffected by the butler’s appearance. Even at such a young age, once he became focused on something, he could remain in the same position for hours.
Shhhk, shhhh. Sawdust scattered through the air with each stroke, while the muscles in his small shoulders and arms moved steadily.
“It’s your nephew, Your Highness.”
“My nephew…?”
“Yes, the heir of His Majesty, your elder brother. He is your nephew.”
Ah, I see. The young Kieron nodded without much thought and gently ran his fingertips over the newly sanded blade. It seemed satisfactory, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
“What’s the birthstone for November?”
“I believe it’s topaz.”
Topaz… The duke, who had recently grown comfortable with writing in the Imperial script, added this detail meticulously to his crafting journal.
“Call a jeweler tomorrow. I want them to set a large topaz in the center here and decorate the surrounding area with diamonds.”
He was so excited that he spoke more than usual. His golden eyes sparkled brighter than ever as he looked back at the butler.
“My nephew… will like it, right?”
There was a hint of childlike pride in his expression. The butler, who had been watching with concern, finally relaxed and smiled.
“Of course. It will be magnificent.”
As the youngest child of the imperial family, the duke had lost his parents at birth and was raised by his elder brother. Perhaps because of this, he rarely acted like a child. He spoke little and was always cautious.
He was born with a brilliant mind, excelling not only in academics but also in martial arts and other pursuits. Every tutor marveled at his exceptional comprehension and quick learning. However, those who reported his achievements to the emperor or boasted about him to outsiders were soon dismissed for various reasons.
“Ah, it’s because of me.”
The boy, realizing something, set the nearly finished wooden sword down on the table. The butler, lost in thought, quickly approached.
“…Pardon?”
“The villa is still so bright because of me.”
Kieron hurried off to the bathroom, and the maids busily helped him prepare for bed.
“Sorry. Because of me, everyone’s sleep was delayed.”
“No, Your Highness. We were simply worried about you…”
The attendants waiting in the room hesitated. Though they had served in the imperial palace for many years, they had never heard an apology from their lord—especially not from a child.
“It’s fine. I was just about to sleep. Leave only the light by my bed on.”
Once under the covers, the duke picked up the book he had been reading the previous night—a history book that recounted the empire’s founding myths in simple language with illustrations.
“Don’t stay up too late reading.”
“Okay.”
Already engrossed in the book, the boy replied absentmindedly.
The butler left the duke’s room and was about to return to his bedroom upstairs when he decided to stop by the adjacent office. His plan was to turn off the lamp in case the duke had fallen asleep. While reviewing the pile of documents that had accumulated until dawn, the butler couldn’t fight off the drowsiness and dozed off.
A strange, acrid smell drifted into his senses.
Is someone burning something in the clearing behind the villa?
Half-conscious, the butler debated whether to open his heavy eyelids when—suddenly—thud, thud, screeech! Footsteps echoed down the hallway, scraping hurriedly across the floor.
His eyes snapped open.
His Highness was sleeping in the next room.
A terrible feeling gripped him. He rushed into the hallway, and the smell of burning grew stronger with every step—especially as he drew closer to the duke’s room. No one was standing guard outside the door. Neither the captain of the guard nor the usual attendants were present. It was strange, ominous even. A chill ran down the butler’s spine.
“Smoke…!”
He reached for the door handle, but immediately yanked his hand back in shock. Thick black smoke was seeping out from the gap under the door.
Without hesitation, he threw the door open. A wave of dense smoke poured out, making his heart drop.
“Your Highness! Your Highness!”
It was a fire. The room was on fire.
The butler pushed through the smoke and ran inside. The large curtains over the window had caught fire and collapsed, and the sofa and wooden table were burning fiercely. Fortunately, the fire had just started, and the flames weren’t yet overwhelming, but they were rapidly spreading across the furniture and walls.
The butler covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve to avoid inhaling the smoke, moving toward the less smoky area. He prayed desperately that he wasn’t too late as he groped his way toward the bed.
Cough, cough.
“Your Highness!”
Hearing the boy’s faint cough was a huge relief.
The duke was sitting dazedly on the bed, staring at the burning room around him. Smoke had already enveloped the bed, though the flames had not reached it yet. The butler tore off part of the blanket and soaked it with water from the pitcher on the bedside table.
“Cover your mouth and nose with this! You must not breathe in too much smoke!”
Kieron took the cloth but only held it limply in his hands. His golden eyes were locked onto the flickering flames, reflecting the chaotic blaze. Sparks dropped from the burning furniture onto the floor with soft crackles.
“Your Highness!”
The butler shook him several times and shouted, but Kieron remained frozen. The flames, now reaching the lounge chair, were closing in on the bed, roaring fiercely and threatening to engulf it.
“We must leave now! Right now!”
The butler, panic rising in his chest, grabbed the boy and pulled him to his feet.
“Climb onto my back!”
The butler was ready to carry the young duke out of the burning room if necessary.
“No, that will put us both in danger.”
The boy, having regained his senses, crouched down and pressed the cloth to his mouth. He stood beside the butler, his previously clouded eyes now strangely clear and focused.
“Then… just follow me, Your Highness,” the butler said, his voice trembling.
He poured the remaining water from the pitcher over Kieron and himself, then bent low to move toward the side of the room where the smoke hadn’t reached yet. Just as they were about to reach the doorway, a sudden wave of heat rushed at them from the side.
“Look out!”
With Kieron’s urgent shout, a loud thud echoed. At the same time, the butler felt a sharp pain in his side, and both of them tumbled to the floor.
A burning cabinet had collapsed, and a flaming door panel had fallen directly on the butler. The boy had thrown himself toward the butler and pushed him away just in time, but they both lost their balance and fell.
“Get up! We have to go now!”
By then, the entire room was engulfed in flames. It was the boy who scrambled to his feet first, grabbing the butler’s arm and pulling him up.
The two barely made it out into the hallway when the flames consumed the room behind them, swallowing even the door. One second later, and they both would have been trapped inside.
Kieron’s bedroom was at the farthest end of the second floor. The fire had spread through the open windows, quickly consuming all the rooms on the second floor. The air was thick with acrid smoke, and the sound of crackling flames echoed everywhere, but the hallway was still relatively passable.
How they managed to cross the hallway, descend the central staircase, and escape through the front door of the villa remained a blur for the butler. His mind was foggy from the lack of oxygen, his head felt like it would split open, and his vision kept darkening.
The butler found it suspicious. How could a fire break out in the private villa of a member of the imperial family, especially in the young duke’s room? Security was always tight, even at this secluded seaside villa.
But before the butler had time to investigate further, Kieron was summoned back to the imperial palace immediately after the incident. He never saw the boy again, not even once, until Kieron had grown into an adult.
The one thing the butler could never forget was how calm the boy had remained throughout the ordeal.
It wasn’t until they had completely escaped the burning building that Kieron finally collapsed onto the ground. He stared at the blazing villa, his legs giving out beneath him.
And then—
“B-brother….”
The trembling voice that escaped from the young duke’s lips, just before he lost consciousness, still echoed vividly in the old butler’s ears to this day.
***
“Kie… Kieron.”
What kind of dream is he having? The man’s brow furrowed deeply once again. Although she was never one to sleep much at night, lately, she had been pushing herself to the limit in his arms until she collapsed and fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke up, it was just before dawn. She turned her head, and there was his profile right next to her. His arm, wrapped firmly around her waist, felt heavy—but also reassuring.
Melusine nestled against his chest, pressing her ear to it to listen to the steady thumping of his heart. The sound of the waves crashing outside was unusually cheerful and gentle that morning.
“…That tickles.”
“Oh! You’re awake?”
Caught off guard, Melusine tried to lift herself, but Kieron wrapped his arm around her head again, holding her down gently but firmly.
“Why are you squirming so much?”
It’s distracting.
His languid, husky voice—still rough from sleep—sent a shiver down her spine. No, wait. She was the one feeling ticklish. It was as if tiny grains of sand were dancing around her heart, making it thump wildly.
“Mel.”
“…Yeah?”
Rattle, rattle.
Something slipped from his hand and tumbled across her chest. A few freshly made pearls rolled before her eyes.
“Ah! Pearls! Again?”
Melusine scooped up the milky-white pearls, shaking them gently in her palm. The soft clinking sound of the pearls colliding rang out clearly.
By now, she understood. At the peak of ecstasy, tears would roll down her cheeks, transforming into these small, precious jewels.
Kieron quietly watched her play with the pearls on his chest. The sight of his little mermaid next to him every morning had become comfortingly familiar.
The fiery nightmares from his childhood, when he felt like he would be consumed by the flames, were a rare occurrence these days. Waking up with a parched throat and the acrid smell of smoke in his lungs, he had felt trapped in the illusion of that suffocating night. But the moment her scent reached him, it all vanished without a trace—like a blazing fire extinguished at the edge of a calm sea.
“Do you like them?”
“Yes! They’re so beautiful.”
Rattle, rattle.
The soft clinking sound, coupled with her innocent expression, made his lower abdomen tighten. Kieron gently lifted her from his chest and set her down on his lap. His hands trailed leisurely over her pale body—already stripped bare from the night before. Melusine was too busy playing with her pearls to notice.
“Well then, shall we make some more?”
Pearls.
“H-huh?”
And once again, his fiery passion engulfed her completely. But there was no need to worry. Melusine’s body, always drenched in water, wouldn’t burn easily—nor would it ever disappear in the flames.
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Zazaza
Thank you for the updating